AerCap, AirAsia X Cancel Their Last A330-200s

Airbus' November 2012 orders and deliveries report reveals that AerCap and AirAsia X cancelled their last A330-200s on order.

AerCap ordered 30 A330s in December 2006 and May 2007. The last delivery took place in August 2012 while a total of four ended up being cancelled. AerCap Ireland, a separate entity listed in Airbus' report, has five A330-300s left on order, previously ordered by and due to be leased to Singapore Airlines.

Meanwhile, AirAsia X ordered two A330-200s in February 2011, but did not take delivery of either one despite both having been built. Eventually, Hong Kong Jet and Iraqi Airways took delivery of each aircraft.

Airbus' November report also reveals that Gulf Air was the mystery customer behind the September 2012 order for 10 A320s as well as two previously-ordered A321s. It has also been confirmed that Gulf Air is the customer behind a cancellation of 14 A330-300s.

Lastly, GECAS switched two A320s to A321s while LANTAM Airlines Group switched three A319s to A320s.

The pioneer years of aviation included both successful and misguided efforts to make the number of safe landings approximate to the number of takeoffs. Here are some notable examples on both sides of that record.